Hey, classical music lovers… Did you know that the Mary and Jeff Bell Library provides access to a database of over 150,000 albums? That’s right, Naxos Music Library (NML) has a huge catalog of (primarily) classical streaming music, and it’s freely available to all TAMU-CC students, faculty, and staff.
There are several ways you can select something to listen to. You can search for a specific work, of course. Or you can click the “People” link from the menu on the left to browse through a list of composers and performers, then click a name to see a brief bio/summary and a list of works by that person. Click the work to see a list of recordings of that work.
You can also browse by recording label, or by different genres of music (NML calls them “categories”), although that gets a little overwhelming IMHO.
NML also has playlists… lots and lots of playlists. Click “Playlists” in the left menu bar, then look for “NML Playlists” and “Themed Playlists” at the top of the page. There are playlists by composer, sure, but there are also more detailed playlists, like French clarinet music and Russian violin concertos. Love film music? There’s a playlist of monster music, of romance & love, and seven lists of “Cinema Classics.” Don’t know Bach from Berlioz? Well, first of all, that’s a problem. You should really consider taking MUSI 1306. But in the meantime, try a few of the Need-to-Know Classics playlists. Then there are holiday playlists, playlists of wind band music, five playlists of animal-themed music (who knew?), plus exercise music, relaxation music, and … well, you get the idea. You should explore; maybe you’ll discover some new favorites.
If you’re serious about this, you’ll probably want to create a personal user account. Just go to the Playlists or Favourites link in the menu bar, then look for the “Sign Up” button.
Tip: Use your TAMU-CC email address so the website knows you’re entitled to access.
With a personal account, you can create your own playlists—favorites, or for a class, or just to organize your listening—all from a list of over 2 million tracks from 150,000+ albums. Professors can also create online playlists to share with your classes; just contact me (derrik.hiatt@tamucc.edu) for the super-secret password that lets you add playlists for TAMU-CC users.
And if you’re like me and you prefer to take your music with you, there’s an app for that! (Did you doubt it?) The NML mobile app is available for Apple and Android users. You’ll need to log into the app with your personal account, then you can access your own playlists or the Naxos playlists, or search, or just browse through the music. The app also allows you to download content for 30 days so you can listen offline.
Happy listening!
